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Cleveland Guardians win 2024 MLB draft lottery despite 2% chance: See the full draft order.

jordan mendoza, usa today
·2 min read
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Cleveland Guardians, you are on the clock.

The 2024 MLB draft lottery was held at the annual winter meetings in Nashville on Tuesday, and even with one of the slimmest odds of all eligible teams, Cleveland was selected to have the No. 1 pick in next summer's draft.

Like the NBA draft, MLB decides the top half of its draft order through a lottery system, rather than basing it on the previous season's records. The three worst teams are given an 18.3% chance of getting the top pick, with the odds decreasing as the order goes up. The lottery is used to determine the first six picks, after which the regular season records determines the rest.

The Guardians entered Tuesday with a 2% chance of getting the No. 1 overall pick — the ninth best odds to get the top selection — and will have it for the first time in franchise history. Other surprises in the lottery include the Cincinnati Reds landing in second despite having a winning record, and the Oakland A's falling out of the top three despite having the worst record in baseball.

2024 MLB draft order

  1. Cleveland Guardians

  2. Cincinnati Reds

  3. Colorado Rockies

  4. Oakland A’s

  5. Chicago White Sox

  6. Kansas City Royals

  7. St. Louis Cardinals

  8. Los Angeles Angels

  9. Pittsburgh Pirates

  10. Washington Nationals

  11. Detroit Tigers

  12. Boston Red Sox

  13. San Francisco Giants

  14. Chicago Cubs

  15. Seattle Mariners

  16. Miami Marlins

  17. Milwaukee Brewers

  18. Tampa Bay Rays

  19. New York Mets

  20. Toronto Blue Jays

  21. Minnesota Twins

  22. Baltimore Orioles

  23. Los Angeles Dodgers

  24. Atlanta Braves

  25. San Diego Padres

  26. New York Yankees

  27. Philadelphia Phillies

  28. Houston Astros

  29. Arizona Diamondbacks

  30. Texas Rangers

2024 MLB draft top prospects

Cleveland will have several options to choose from when its makes its selection in July. Here are the top five college and high school baseball stars who could hear their name be called first next summer, according to MLB.com:

High school:

  • PJ Morlando, outfielder, Summerville, S.C.

  • Konnor Griffin, outfielder/pitcher, Florence, Mississippi

  • Cam Caminiti, pitcher/outfielder, Scottsdale, Arizona

  • Noah Franco, outfielder/pitcher, Bradenton, Florida

  • Bryce Rainer, third base/pitcher, Simi Valley, California

College:

  • Nick Kurtz, first base, Wake Forest

  • JJ Wetherholt, shortstop, West Virginia

  • Travis Bazzana, second base, Oregon State

  • Jac Caglianone, first base/pitcher, Florida

  • Chase Burns, pitcher, Wake Forest

MLB draft No. 1 pick history

Here is every No. 1 pick in the MLB draft since 2000:

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Cleveland Guardians win 2024 MLB draft lottery: See full draft order